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Summerfest 2016: BoDeans look back at 30 years with museum exhibit, Summerfest show

One of the most popular bands from Milwaukee is playing Summerfest’s BMO Harris Pavilion on Sunday, and is celebrating the anniversary of its debut album with an exhibit at the Milwaukee County Historical Society.

None of that — or BoDeans' 12 albums, substantial fan base and countless shows (including a Summerfest set at the BMO Harris Pavilion on Sunday) — would have existed if not for the success of debut album 'Dreams.' Overseen by legendary Americana producer T Bone Burnett, it turned 30 in April — although in terms of its sound, it hasn't aged in the slightest.

'There were tremendous highs and tremendous lows. It was a roller coaster, and you feel all of that when you look back,' Neumann said. The lows include a permanent rift with co-founder and co-lead vocalist Sam Llanas, who left the band in 2011. Llanas still performs BoDeans songs with a new band, and he'll perform at Summerfest on Friday.

'The whole point of it for me is that we managed to still be alive and still playing music,' Neumann continued. 'All I ever wanted was to do something positive in the world, and music seemed like a good way to do it.'

Started from the bottom

Llanas and Neumann bonded over music in 1977 in study hall at Waukesha South High School, playing their first gig at Neumann's parents' house two years later.

'Kurt didn't really have any confidence on stage, so I started to sing along with him and I found I could fit my voice right on top of his,' Llanas said. 'That was the genesis of the BoDeans sound, those two voices together.'

Establishing the band in 1980 — briefly as Da BoDeans — Neumann and Llanas spent most of their time writing songs and home recording demos. When drummer Guy Hoffman, who went on to play in Violent Femmes, joined in 1983, 'it changed everything,' Neumann said. 'The songs became something to move to and rock out with.'

BoDeans started packing late clubs like Century Hall and Teddy's on the east side, but rarely ventured out of town. In November 1984, it did a couple of shows in New York City, including at the famed CBGB, but Llanas said, 'practically no one was there.'

But as fate would have it, at least one impressed music writer was in attendance.

'I remember taking a picture in the dressing room, and it was that picture that landed in the first issue of Spin magazine, with Madonna on the cover,' Hoffman told the Journal Sentinel. 'That was a major piece of press for us.'

Signed to label

A bidding war ensued, with Slash Records and Warner Bros. joining forces to offer BoDeans the winning deal in 1985.

'(Burnett) was the guy we wanted,' Neumann said. 'He came to see us and called us to his hotel room after the gig. First thing he said was, 'You all need to go home and learn how to play your instruments.''

But Burnett changed his tune and decided to take BoDeans under his wing.

'T Bone's gift is bringing the best out of you,' Neumann said. 'His whole point is you need to find the soul of the song. It's not about playing a fresh guitar part; I had only been playing guitar for two or three years at that point....He wants you to express your mood.'

'He discussed how the facets of a cut stone are like the parts of a song,' Hoffman said. 'When the music shifts from a verse to a chorus to the bridge, all the instruments make those shifts, and the results are like a finely cut diamond. And consequently, every song on 'Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams' shines like a gem.'

A couple of its brightest songs almost didn't get recorded.

'We were in preproduction and T Bone said, 'I feel like something is missing from you guys. Do you have any other songs?'' Neumann said. 'I immediately busted into 'Fadeaway' and he said, that's the first single. It was a great moment, and it became our first presentation to the world.'

And there was one night, after a full day of recording, when Llanas recalled looking out over the lights in Los Angeles, 'and it really reminded me of this lonesome feeling.' It inspired him to write 'Lookin' For Me Somewhere,' the album's sparse but lingering closer.

'We wanted more time to work on it,' Llanas said of making 'Dreams.' 'We spent two weeks rehearsing, then only had about a week to record everything. But the fact that we didn't have a whole lot of time made it simple, straightforward music you either really liked right away or you didn't.'

Fortunately, people really liked 'Dreams' — although not as many as initially hoped.

'The sales that we saw were not that big, and it kind of left us all in a bewildered state,' Hoffman said. 'It came out at the end of the roots revival, and the market wasn't changing in our favor.'

But Bob Griffin, who joined BoDeans on bass before the Slash and Warner deal, said 'hearing your songs for the first time on the radio was a great feeling.'

'It was the first time the band had really gone around the country,' Griffin said of touring behind 'Dreams.' 'We were an incredible live band, and once people saw us, they kept coming back year after year.'

First Summerfest show

And that included at Summerfest, where in 1986, BoDeans played the Big Gig's biggest stage for the first of many times.

'During 'Still the Night,' 20,000 people were waving their arms back and forth,' Neumann remembered. 'I had never been part of such a powerful energy.'

More great things came soon after 'Dreams,' including a full-page Time magazine profile; a song placement in Martin Scorsese's 'The Color of Money;' an opening slot on U2's 'Joshua Tree' tour in 1987; and a 'Best New American Band' proclamation in Rolling Stone in January 1987.

Hoffman left the group in 1987 to care for his newborn and treat a nerve problem in his right hand; in recent years he's composed music for films in Los Angeles. Griffin stayed with the band until about seven years ago and still plays around town. Burnett's profile exploded thanks to his blockbuster, multi-Grammy-winning 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?' soundtrack in 2000; he collaborated with BoDeans again on 2008 album 'Still.'

And Neumann and Llanas have had lifelong music careers. Llanas, still based in Milwaukee, is in the early stages of his next solo album, which he said will be lighter than previous efforts '4 A.M.' and 'The Whole Night Thru.'

And Neumann wrote songs for the new Netflix comedy series 'The Ranch' with Ashton Kutcher. They'll be featured with other new originals on BoDeans' 13th studio album, 'The Way From Here,' out late this summer or early fall.

Neumann said he was asked to write songs about coming home. It was something that resonated with him, not only because the 30th anniversary of 'Dreams' has him in a reflective mood, but because the longtime Texas resident is looking into moving back to the Midwest.

'On the first single 'My Hometown' I'm singing about how you are a product of where you came from, and how family and friends are the biggest things in your life,' Neumann said. 'Sometimes, it takes you 30 years to realize that. As a kid, you feel like you want to get out of here, but everything that you needed was always here.'

More On Music

For more Summerfest content — and to watch exclusive video from a BoDeans performance at the opening of its museum exhibit — go to jsonline.com/summerfest.

Find out about the week's must-see shows, concert tickets and more in the newsletter 'Piet Levy's Music Picks.' Subscribe at jsonline.com/newsletters.

Piet talks about concerts, local music and more on 'TAP'd In' with Jordan Lee, 8 a.m. Thursdays on WYMS-FM (88.9).

TOAST THE BAND WITH a bottle

of BODEANS BREW

You've heard the BoDeans, but now you can taste the BoDeans — BoDeans beer, that is.

To celebrate the band's 30th anniversary of its debut album,Sprecher Brewery in Glendale has a new shandy-style beer, BoDeans Original Ginger Brew, mixed with ginger ale.

'We reached out to them about the idea, and they were interested in working with us to create a summertime beer,' Neumann said, who offered input over a tasting with Sprecher President Jeff Hamilton. 'I told Jeff at home I used to mix grapefruit and Corona. Jeff recommended putting ginger alein beer and it was perfect.' The band also designed the labels, and Sprecher took a casting of a head stock from one of Neumann's custom guitars for the tap handle.